Governor Tony Evers
Are they or aren’t they communicating? Democratic Governor Tony Evers says, while he hasn’t actually met recently with Republican legislative leaders. “I know we have some, I think meetings planned in the future,” Evers told reporters in Madison this week. “I think it’s working as good as it can, but under no circumstances are we not communicating with them.”
Evers said his staff and the staffs of GOP leaders are communicating. The majority leader in the state Assembly said that’s not good enough.
And if any face-to-face meetings have been scheduled, Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steinke is unaware of them. “There’s nothing on the calender. They haven’t reached out that I’ve been made aware of to any of us, to set up any kind of meeting face-to-face with the governor.”
Rep. Jim Steineke
Evers and Republican leaders are essentially proposing competing two-year state budgets. Evers said communications between his office and legislative leaders are adequate, to get a state budget accomplished. “Absolutely. We gotta do it. Do I want it to be done by end of June? Yes, but we can’t put all these school districts and municipalities in the position of having to guess what the aid will be.”
It that’s going to happen, Steineke said they need to meet face-to-face. “In the absence of those meetings, we’re just going to forward and do what we think is right, and I guess let the chips fall where they may.”